Friday, 27 August 2010

Every year, sockeye salmon return to the rivers of western Canada to make their arduous upstream journey to calmer spawning grounds. It is a seasonal touchstone that signifies the approaching end of summer, one that has been observed for centuries.

The only problem is that some years, like in 2009, the salmon don't return.

In 2009, watershed managers estimated that 10,488,000 salmon would return from the Pacific. As the month wore on, it became clear that the reality would meet only a fraction of this goal. In the end, 1,370,000 salmon returned, a mere 13 percent of the preseason estimate.

The poor showing sent managers and scientists into a frenzy. After a year of research, no definitive conclusions could be made, but several theories had emerged. Warmer ocean temperatures, diminished food supplies, and an increase in predator populations were among the leading suggestions.

Though the final verdict is still out on the cause of last year's decline, it is clear that this year represents a dramatic rebound. Already, assessments predict 25,000,000 sockeye salmon will return to the Fraser river, the largest since 1913.

Still, even a record return may not be enough to reconcile the shock of last year's turnout.

"Everybody is abuzz about the great return of the Fraser sockeye," Fisheries Minister Gail Shea said, but "we're welcoming this with cautious optimism."

Tuesday, 24 August 2010

Apparently China's Ministry of Commerce has had it with disposable chopsticks. It sent out a warning to chopstick makers in June to warn them that: "Production, circulation and recycling of disposable chopsticks should be more strictly supervised." The reason? With about 45 billion disposable chopstick pairs made every year in the country, or about 130 million a day, a lot of wood is being wasted, and that in a country that is trying to increase its forest coverage (from about 8% in 1949 to 12-13% today, compared to 30% for the USA).

Greenpeace China has estimated that to keep up with this demand, 100 acres of trees need to be felled every 24 hours. Think here of a forest larger than Tiananmen Square -- or 100 American football fields -- being sacrificed every day. That works out to roughly 16 million to 25 million felled trees a year. Deforestation is one of China's gravest environmental problems, leading to soil erosion, famine, flooding, carbon dioxide release, desertification and species extinction. ( source)

If you compare 100 acres per day to the size of China's forests, it still isn't that much (it's a big country), but chopsticks are far from the only thing pressuring Chinese ecosystems. It's one more thing the country's forests could do without... read more story at TreeHugger.com

Sunday, 8 August 2010

Last year at Greenbuild we learned about Starbucks' new Global Store Design Strategy from Corporate Architect Tony Gale. One very attractive feature was that it was not a "one size fits all" program but would adapt the designs to different regions; Tony said "we like to do different things in different regions, to reflect what is going on in the local culture."

It is a small store, on the ground floor of a brand new condo, at the intersection of Toronto's shiny new rebuilt dedicated streetcar line and a major subway station, so it will get a lot of walk-in trade.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of the store design is not the green goodies that they put in, but the stuff they left out. They have taken a minimalist approach and left out ceilings, drywall and flooring, leaving the basic concrete shell of the building exposed. All of the piping in the ceiling that serves the floors above is exposed and open, not even painted. There is an obvious environmental benefit of using less stuff, less building materials, a smaller footprint in construction... read more story at TreeHugger.com

Welcome!

With almost 3,000 members, the Guelph Wellington Seniors Association is one of the largest organizations of its kind in Canada. We have a straightforward mission..."To empower older adults to be active, to be involved and to age successfully."

We are a non-profit, registered charity. The GWSA partners with the City of Guelph in the operation of the Evergreen Seniors Community Centre, a state-of-the-art recreation facility.

The GWSA also operates in other locations such as the West End Community Centre, St. Paul's Lutheran Church and, in the not-too-distant future, will be a key Partner with the City in the design and use of the new South End Community Centre.

GWSA makes available some 90 organized programs, activities and services throughout the year as well as special events and public interest forums.

We are supported by the active participation of the more than 500 volunteers who make it all possible.

GWSA Golf Group

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GWSA Golf Group

If you are looking to play golf with fun loving golfers, then the Evergreen Seniors Golf group is the place for you.

Membership in the group provides an opportunity to play non-competitive golf at a variety of local courses at a discounted rate. The Evergreen Seniors Golf group plays every Monday, from the first Monday of May through to the last Monday of September. The golf season for our group concludes with a nine hole scramble and luncheon. A mini golf vacation to Niagara Falls in September is also available to members.

This is an all-inclusive club for seniors with many lady members, some husband and wife teams, some golfers that play nine holes and others that play eighteen. If you are a beginner, an average duffer or better golfer, you will enjoy the relaxed and fun atmosphere of this club.

All you need to do is be a registered member of the Guelph Wellington Seniors Association and pay a modest fee to join the golf group - for 2013, the fee is $10 + HST.